George Zimmerman was acquitted Saturday of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges, after a jury found that he acted in self defense when he shot 17-year-old Martin, who was unarmed.

Obama noted that while the verdict angered many Americans, it was felt very strongly in the black community. Black men sometimes are followed while shopping, get nervous looks on elevators and hear car locks click as they walk down the street, he said, noting that he personally experienced such treatment before he became well-known.

“It’s important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go away,” he said.

He also mentioned the violence black communities experienced in recent times, CNN reports.

“Some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country,” Obama said. “ And the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history. … And so the fact that sometimes that’s unacknowledged adds to the frustration.”

Zimmerman shot and killed Martin in February 2012. Initially police declined to charge Zimmerman, citing the state’s “stand your ground law.” The president mentioned the law at the Friday briefing. It may be time to exam such self-defense laws, he said, and ask if they actually contribute to the kind of “ peace and security and order that we’d like to see.”